Souvenir Mining Spoon Bonanza Mine Bowl Engraving | SOUVENIR MINING SPOON BONANZA MINE ROBINSONVILLE OR - Sterling silver spoon with engraved mine scene in gold washed bowl, marked BONANZA MINE BAKER CITY, ca. 1895, marked Sterling with an S maker’s mark on reverse, made by the Shepard Mfg. Co. Melrose Highlands, MA 1893-1923, handle is marked OREGON with 1859 and crest at top, length 5 1/2 in. and weight 20.3 g, [The Bonanza Gold Mine was the largest and probably the most valuable free gold mine in the Pacific Northwest in the 1890s. It was located at the head waters of Burnt River at an elevation of 5,140 feet, about four miles southeast of Robinsonville in Baker County, Oregon, or approximately 40 miles west of Baker City. Discovered in 1877 by a pioneer prospector named Jack Haggard, it was worked by the original locators for two years, reducing the quartz and gold vein ores by the arrastra process. In 1879 the Bonanza Mining Co. purchased it, and erected a ten stamp mill. They continued operations, but failed to make a success of it, and finally closed down. In 1892 the Geiser Company headed by Al Geiser purchased it, reopened the old works and had the mine and mill in continuous operation until it was sold in 1898, producing nearly $3 million in gold over that period as the heaviest producer in the state. The mine continued in operation till 1907 but little is known after that. Most recently, a Canadian firm named the Marathon Gold Corp. of Toronto bought the Bonanza in 2012 from the Gazelle Land and Timber LLC of Canyon City with plans to conduct exploratory work.]